Eleven Red Dots
by Jack E. Peace
Summary: Lindsay Wheeler had a habit of making red dots at the bottom of her page whenever she couldn't remember what she read. And every time she thought of Ryan Atwood, she added another red dot.


Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine.

A/N: I know, it's been forever since I've written an actual fanfic. Wow...impressive. Anyway, clearly this story is set during the most recent episode. And, for those of you who might be waiting around for another update for _In Your Love_, fear not because it is coming slowly and stubbornly along. I promise, it will be here before the New Year. And, in response to this story, yes, I hate to admit it: I like Lindsay. So kill me...just please enjoy and review this story. Thanks.

Ryan Atwood was not like other guys, this Lindsay Wheeler had no choice but to admit to herself. He wasn't like the guys she had known in her life who were only after one thing and didn't take 'no' for an answer and weren't very nice about it. At least Ryan was a gentleman, Lindsay thought as she absently chewed the back of the red pin in her hand. After all, he had been nothing but nice to her, actually listened to her when she talked instead of staring at her chest and hadn't even tried to kiss her. Now that was just not normal guy behavior.

Lindsay sighed and attempted to force her attention back down to the page in front of her. She was passing her evening hours by reading the new Patricia Cornwell novel, which wasn't all that interesting so far and made it almost easy to think about Ryan as opposed to the mass murders in Louisiana. But then again...she didn't really need an excuse to think about Ryan, now did she?

Shaking her head, more to clear her mind of all other thoughts then to answer her mental question, Lindsay squinted her eyes and gave her entire concentration to the printed words before her. She read the page then closed her eyes and tried to remember what she had just read; it was the easiest way to strengthen her memory and to improve her reading comprehension. It was something she had been doing for years and something she had never had trouble accomplishing. But, then again, she had never had a guy on the brain before.

With a sigh, Lindsay was forced to make a tiny red dot at the bottom of the page; she didn't remember a single word that she had just read. And so, she read the page again, closing her eyes once more and attempted to form a coherent sentence. However, all she could conjure up were images of Ryan's smiling face, his adorably roguish face, and those eyes...

"Stop it." Lindsay commanded out loud, since mental reprimands didn't seem to be working very well. "He's just a boy. It wouldn't even work out." She nodded once. "It never does."

And yet, if Ryan was just a boy then why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Why was he taking over her mind, forcing her to place yet another red dot on her page. Lindsay shook her head again and brushed her hair out of her face. This was getting ridiculous; what right did Ryan Atwood have to take over her thoughts? She wanted him gone. Or did she...?

Of course she did; Lindsay wanted to concentrate on Kay Scarpetta and her newest cold-case. She was supposed to be focusing on the fictional world, the one in print, not the one that insisted on running through her head over and over again. Thoughts of her and Ryan doing what normal couples did, like cuddling in the movie theatre, or taking moonlight walks through the park and kissing goodnight had taken over.

"But you're not even a couple." Lindsay reminded herself as she made another dot. "So get over it." She wasn't the type of girl to obsess over a guy, it just wasn't her style. But, then again, she wasn't the type of girl to talk to herself either.

_Just concentrate_, Lindsay told herself, mentally this time to avoid any undue embarrassment that might come from her verbal commands. _Focus on the words. _Yet the words weren't near as interesting as focusing on Ryan Atwood. And those dimples... She made another dot.

Lindsay wondered how many red dots she would have to make before she started to feel foolish and really stopped thinking about Ryan. It wasn't looking too promising, that was for certain. In the past minute, she'd been forced to add two more dots and she was beginning to think that her book would look like it had the chicken pocks before she remembered what she read.

"He's not even that great." Lindsay mumbled, forgoing keeping her thoughts in her head and chewing on her pen once more. "He's just a guy." Another dot. "No big deal."

But it certainly felt like a big deal. Especially after all Ryan had said to her not even thirty minutes ago. Had he really meant everything he said? Lindsay wanted to think so, though a lot of guys said a lot of things they really didn't mean to get a lot of things that they really did want. But, she thought as she made another dot, Ryan didn't seem like that type of guy. But then, how much did she really know about him anyway? Only what he had told her at the bus stop and that could have been anything. Lindsay made another dot. He could be whoever he wanted her to believe that he was.

_If you got to know me, I think you'd really like me too_. That was what Ryan had said just before he had left her house.

The thing was, whether she would admit it or not, Lindsay already did like him. And that was the problem; she already liked Ryan, whether she knew his entire history or not, she liked him. And, more importantly, she really wanted to get to know more about him. Another dot graced the page.

"You're being stupid." Lindsay informed herself. "What are you expecting?" Yet another dot. "Prince Charming?"

Lindsay looked up from her book. Maybe she was expecting Prince Charming; no one ever said that a knight-in-shining armor couldn't be from Chino.

After the eleventh dot was added to the cluster, Lindsay tossed aside her pen and got to her feet. She just wasn't the sort of girl to get so worked up over a guy, she knew this, it just wasn't who she was. Especially not an ordinary guy she had only just met; a guy that she was already considering her modern day prince.

Lindsay kicked off her slippers and traded them from her tennis shoes. Maybe she wasn't being fair to Ryan. Maybe he wasn't just an ordinary boy; maybe he was a frog just waiting to be a prince.

After all, he had caused eleven dots worth of thoughts. And that was no ordinary feat.


End file.
